


kageyama's heart grew three sizes that day

by loadgalax



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 16:17:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2818427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loadgalax/pseuds/loadgalax
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tobio was perfectly fine with spending the first five days of winter break alone. His family went to Kyoto all the time, and really, it wasn't a big deal. He was fine with a few quiet days alone in the house, and fine spending the 25th by himself (no one in his family even celebrated Christmas anyway.) What he wasn't expecting was Hinata to be so hung up over the whole situation.</p><p>And so begins Tobio Kageyama's (involuntary) vacation at the Hinata household, filled with awkward family encounters, screaming eight year olds, overly-competitive card games, and a few too many times when Hinata unintentionally (or not) made his heart race.</p>
            </blockquote>





	kageyama's heart grew three sizes that day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lydiamartin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lydiamartin/gifts).



> this was just supposed to be like 3k but then i started having fun  
> this is my first fic since waaay back in middle school, i was planning on doing fanart but i figured the prompt would suit a fic much better (plus you probably wanted a fic more!) so i tried my hand at it! i hope you like the result, and happy holidays!!

It was December 21st when Tobio’s mother first broke the news that she and his father would be driving out to Kyoto for one or two days. His father broke the rest of the news: one to two days was starting to look like five. Tobio wasn't particularly bothered; they came and went every so often, and it's not like he placed a lot of stock in the holiday they'd be missing anyway. No one in his family did, really. They were loosely Shinto, and although the holiday lights and the scents of gingerbread and cinnamon were just as delightful for them as they were to any other family, that's still all those things amounted to. He was perfectly content to spend the next week or so in his house, microwaving convenience store food and watching the occasional TV movie on his couch.

It was December 22nd when Hinata first got wind of Tobio’s situation.

"Whaaaaa?!" From the look in his face, you'd think Tobio had said he was moving to America. To become a fisherman. "You're really going to be all alone over break?! All alone on Christmas?!"

As he nodded, Tobio began to realize there was only one direction this conversation could take.

"You could stay at my house!"

There it was.

Tobio opened his mouth, ready to do whatever it took to dig himself out of this hole, but Hinata looked like the heavens had opened up to him and him alone to present him with this brilliant idea. Angels no doubt singing in his ears, he kept on babbling.

"You've met my mom and my sister, right? I know they've come to games, and I know they know you because they ask about you all the time!"

“What?”

"And my mom loves Christmas, you can try her cookies and she'll get you presents of course, and you can meet Natsu for real, face to face!" He paused. "Though we might want to do something about your face first, she's only eight and I don't want her to cry on Christmas-"

"Hey!"

Hinata grabbed Tobio's hands in his own before he could say anything else, his eyes a level of earnesty Tobio almost never saw off the court. "We can't have you scaring my baby sister."

Tobio didn't know what was stranger, the ease with which Hinata was wrapping him around his finger, or the pressure from Hinata's palms on his hands. He swallowed, realizing that every second he hesitated was another second Hinata had won from him. And another second the redhead's grin kept on growing.

He glanced away in a huff, accepting defeat. In a rush of air, Hinata blasted away, his triumphant yell carrying down the hall as he ran. "I'll call my mom! You can come tonight!"

"Don't shout outside the classrooms, idiot!" Tobio bellowed after him.

"Boys!" They both froze as a curmudgeonly wisp of a teacher poked his head through the class B door, glaring daggers. "Stay after class."

* * *

 

That evening when he had arrived home after a particularly grueling hour of detention, Tobio packed his toothbrush, his books, and a week's worth of clothes into his regular tote. The silence of his house stretched around him; his parents had been gone by the time he got home. They'd left a note on the counter, telling him where they'd left money for food, and to call if he needed anything.

Things were always quiet, even with them here, so the silence was hardly unusual.

(When Hinata had first met his parents at the last game of their first year, he had been dumbfounded. He had turned to Kageyama, eyes wide, then glanced back and forth between the three of them for another few baffled seconds. Afterwards, he'd said "I guess your mom makes faces like you, but how come they're so...?"

"So what?"

Hinata hadn't found the word, but whatever it was, it was something that both he and Tobio were decidedly not.)

As natural as the quietness was, he was grateful for the sound of his bag's zipper as he packed in his last few things. He looked over his handiwork, struggling to remember if there was anything else. Did he need to bring a present? He didn't want Hinata thinking he was excited even though he was, or for him to congratulate himself for making Tobio come any more than he was undoubtedly doing now.... but what if Hinata's mom was expecting something? He had never seen her save for in the audience at a few games...

A sharp buzz from his pocket stopped his worrying in its tracks.

_aren't u coming??? it's getting dark and my mom doesn't want u walking alone at night!!_

He took a breath, then figured he may as well ask straight from the source.

_should I bring a present?_

The phone buzzed frantically seconds later.

_we can buy something later if you really want, just get over here!!!!_

Huffing, he pressed the phone back into his pocket. Stopping only to poke at his hair in the mirror (before realizing, reddening, how embarrassing that was), he stepped out into the cold, bag in tow and a week's worth of god knows what ahead.

* * *

 

"Tobio! I'm so glad you made it safe!"

The Hinata residence glowed like a festival. Lights were strung along the porch, twinkling against the haze of the night, and the doorway practically radiated warmth and liveliness out onto the street. The inside was even more impressive, splashes of gold and red and green dancing before his eyes. The smell of butter and cinnamon washed over him, overwhelmingly strong yet undeniably cozy. Three identical heads of red hair stood before him, each looking ready to burst with excitement.

Since Mrs. Hinata had greeted him first, he turned to her. She was a small woman, about Hinata's height, but her presence filled the room. Her brilliant orange hair was tied back in a ponytail, flyaways dancing around her face like nothing about her could sit still for long. Tobio had seen her before, but it was only now, seeing her side by side with her children, that he really understood just where Hinata's ability to light up a room came from. It was amazing too how much her children looked like her, despite having two different fathers, which was something he remembered Hinata mentioning after he knew Tobio wouldn't judge her for it.

Natsu was clinging to Hinata, yelling out things Tobio could barely catch while Hinata struggled to hold onto her and waved to Tobio at the same time.

He cleared his throat and dipped his head. "Sorry for worrying you." Nerves choked the words out of him; he wasn't sure how to act around her. She reminded him far too much of Hinata. "Thank you for letting me stay here."

"It's our pleasure, Shoyo hasn't stopped talking about it since he got home! He practically begged me."

"Mom!"

Laughing a great big laugh, she ushered Tobio past a mortified Hinata into the kitchen. (Tobio feigned a cough to hide his own embarrassment and not meet Hinata's eyes.)

Every room he passed on Mrs. Hinata's grand tour seemed to be spilling life out of the doorways. The house itself was small, but so, so full; the walls were crowded with pictures of Hinata and Natsu's smiling faces. He passed a five year old Hinata, hoisting a fish larger than himself over his head, then an eight year old Hinata cradling a newborn Natsu in his arms. Hinata and Natsu, over and over again, their collective grins bright enough to power a small country, Tobio guessed. He was so absorbed that he hardly noticed the barely-there smile creeping onto his face.

Mrs. Hinata was relaying a grand tale of the time Hinata accidentally broke a lamp in excitement after seeing the Little Giant for the first time on TV when something caught Tobio's eye. A fourteen year old Hinata in a green jersey, his cheeks flushed with enthusiasm and a volleyball squeezed against his chest. Tobio's breath caught ever so slightly.

"Remember that?" Tobio jumped as Hinata materialized next to him, conspicuously Natsu-free. He knew Hinata knew, but he gave a rough nod anyway.

Hinata laughed and scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, Mom took that before I left. Would've been a totally different picture after the match, you know?"

Hinata's mom had waltzed off to the kitchen to check on Natsu by now, so the two of them were left alone in the hall. "I..." Tobio began. "I wonder what I looked like then." He felt uncomfortable saying it so plainly, but the words came out anyway.

Hinata looked at him, puzzled. "What, you don't have any pictures?"

He shook his head. "No, it was just the first day of the tournament, my parents only take pictures when it's important." He felt a twinge of guilt as soon as the words were out of his mouth, but he didn't know any other way to say it. That's just how they were.

But the way that picture was displayed so lovingly, there was no way to describe that game as anything but important. He parted his lips slightly, struggling to find the words to get that across to Hinata (in a non-humiliating, matter-of-fact way, of course), but when he looked over, he was met with a strange sight. Hinata wasn't poised to hit him.

Instead, his eyes were drawn to the picture, his mouth pressed in a contemplative line. "We've come pretty far since then, huh?" He turned to meet Tobio's eyes. "We've gotten stronger." There it was, just as uncensored, just as matter-of-fact as Tobio's statement had been.

"Yeah, we have."

Hinata's face lit up with a grin. "And where would you be if you didn't have me!"

Then he yelped as Tobio whacked his head, both scowling at and blindsided by such a statement. "Probably somewhere better!"

"What, like Shiritorizawa? You couldn't get in!"

"Shut up!"

A shout from the kitchen stopped them in their tracks, and likely spared all of the breakables in the hallway too. "Shoyo! Pull out the guest futon and get Tobio settled! There are cookies when you're done!"

Hinata did just that, at the breakneck speed he usually reserved for volleyball, dragging Tobio behind him all the while. When Tobio was sufficiently settled, Hinata stopped for a moment.

"You know, my mom could take some pictures of you at the games, if you wanted."

Tobio didn't know quite what to make of that, or how he felt about it, but he focused on a spot on the wall and let out a gruff "M.. maybe."

Hinata smiled again, then shouted something unintelligible about cookies and sprinted out of the room. Tobio leapt after him, and something in him felt a little lighter as he raced to the kitchen.

* * *

 

He hadn’t been too frosty when he first entered the Hinata household, but as the night went on, he began to warm even more. Mrs. Hinata’s cookies were just as amazing as Hinata had led him to believe. Baked goods like this were rare for him, save for convenience store buns or cakes, so he savored every bite of all twenty cookies he ate.

Of course, Hinata’s mom just chuckled and put in another tray. Tobio guessed she was used to big eaters with Hinata in the house. There wasn’t a lot of “real food,” as Hinata’s mom called it, readily available, as Hinata and Natsu had eaten before Tobio arrived, but she was happy to heat up a pack of instant ramen to tide him over until tomorrow. “There’s better food on the horizon, I promise!” she laughed. Behind her, Hinata bobbed his head as if possessed, cookie crumbs flying out of his mouth as he hummed in agreement. Eventually, she excused herself to go get some reading done, patting Hinata on the head as she left with a firm “Keep the both of them out of trouble!”.

All the while, Natsu was perched on one of the stools by the counter,asking Tobio every question under the sun with alarming speed.

“Why haven’t you come over before?”

His eyes narrowed, embarrassed. “I don’t go to other people’s houses often.”

She stared at him, unfazed. “Is it because you’re unpopular?”

“I’m not unpopular,” he spluttered, but she was onto the next question before he even finished.

“Do you have many friends?”

Tobio slammed his hands on the counter. “I play volleyball!” he barked, as if that answered her question. Her bright, unblinking bird’s eyes bored into him. He was flabbergasted. How could Hinata possibly have thought he would scare her? She seemed to have all of her brother’s boldness, and six times his brazenness.

Across the way, Hinata was about ready to pass out laughing. “It’s true! He plays volleyball!”

Natsu stirred her cup of milk thoughtfully with the leg of a gingerbread man. “Shoyo has a few other friends, I think.” (Hinata nodded proudly.) “There’s girl who always puts her hair like this-” she bunched a tuft of her hair to the side “-and stutters a lot. But she’s never come over...” She thought a little harder. “And there’s that boy he’s always texting. He says he’s a friend but I’ve never seen him before, so he might be fake.”

“Hey, that’s only two!” Hinata said, looking offended. “And Kenma’s real! He just lives in Tokyo.”

She stuck out her tongue. “Do you have any pictures of your imaginary friend Kenma?”

“Yes! Yes I do!” He fished his phone out of his pocket, flicked his finger across it a few times, then presented it triumphantly. “Here!”

It was a slightly blurred picture the two of them had taken together, Hinata’s cheek pressed close to Kenma’s as he flashed a peace sign and winked. Kenma looked almost startled, his catlike eyes glancing warily at Hinata’s beaming face.

Natsu contemplated the phone. Then, she said, “His hair looks like pudding. You’re friends with pudding.”

“But he’s real!”

The two of them bickered back and forth, leaving Tobio a second to drift away. He thought of his own phone. Did it even have a camera? He supposed it did, all the newer models did, but he had never used it. Without thinking, he asked, “Are there any pictures of me on there?”

Hinata stopped mid-sentence. Natsu giggled, and Tobio’s eyebrows raised ever so slightly. “Are there?” He just wanted to know, but Hinata was fidgeting now, avoiding Tobio’s eyes.

“No! No, I mean, just some team shots my mom took, but that’s all of us together.” He looked almost guilty. Tobio knitted his brows together; he had expected that, but not the way Hinata was looking at him.

The other boy was very absorbed in his fingers now. “I mean, do you want there to be?”

“I think you’re the one who wants pictures, Shoyo!” Natsu singsonged from her chair. Hinata made a bizarre noise.

Tobio was thoroughly confused, but he couldn’t help but admit that perhaps, maybe, a little, tiny bit, that seeing Hinata’s picture with Kenma had made him want a place in Hinata’s phone too. A little, tiny bit. (Plus, he thought, if there was going to be a picture of him and another person on his own phone, who else would he want there, other than Hinata?)

“We could take pictures,” he said slowly.

Hinata immediately lost interest in his hands.

“Really?”

Tobio hesitated, then nodded. Hinata practically glowed.

“We could take one right now, if you want!”

“What-?”

Hinata all but flung himself across the room, throwing himself over the counter and lassoing Tobio’s neck with his arm. Flashing a grin and an equally ridiculous peace sign, he clicked the button on his phone, which emitted a loud shutter sound and a flash of light, then two more. Frankly, Tobio was at a loss for how to handle this: Hinata’s arms were circled around him now, flicking through the three photos, his chin pressing down hard on Tobio’s shoulder in order to see. And he was pretty sure that something in his chest had just exploded against his ribs.

When he finally cleared away the buzzing in his head, he all but shoved Hinata off. “The hell was that?!”

Hinata gasped. “Kageyama! Don’t swear in front of Natsu!”

A cursory glance in Natsu’s direction showed that she was just watching them, mildly interested and nibbling on another cookie.

Tobio’s face burned. “I wasn’t ready! Delete them!” He flailed around, trying to snatch the phone from Hinata’s hands, but the other boy was too fast.

“At least look at them first! You being surprised is better than you glaring! Or trying to smile.”

Finally, Tobio forced himself to sit down, and Hinata held the phone up to him. His face looked back with an expression of pure bewilderment as Hinata pressed his own face up next to his. To be fair, he didn’t look that different from the picture of Kenma he’d seen earlier; he guessed he had gotten the same treatment too. He wrestled with himself for a moment, before letting out a slow breath.

“...We should take another.”

Hinata looked back at the picture. “Do you want me to delete these?”

Tobio coughed, then averted his eyes. “No, they’re okay.”

A pause.

“Send them to me.”

They took more pictures that night. Pictures with Natsu, pictures with the remaining cookies, pictures with Mrs. Hinata, who reemerged from the study at around nine-thirty to put Natsu to bed. As the folder on Hinata’s phone grew, Tobio saw his expression shift, from a scowl, to his forced smile that Hinata said could make milk curdle, to something a little different. Something soft, uncontrollable, something that warmed him from the inside out. When he wasn’t paying attention, he heard the shutter noise click.

He sat straight up. “Hey, you weren’t in that one!”

“Look, though.” Hinata’s face was alight as he passed the phone to Tobio. It was him, smiling ever so faintly, his eyes dancing ever so slightly. He almost didn’t recognize himself.

Hinata’s smile shrank to something a little tenderer as he grabbed the phone back. “I deserve a prize for that! Print it in the magazines, Shoyo Hinata has captured the rarest smile in the world!”

“Oh, shut up.”

“What do you think, is it rare enough for background status?” Their eyes met. Hinata almost seemed to be holding his breath. Tobio wasn’t sure he was breathing either.

“Only if I get one of you too.”

“Does your phone even take pictures?”

“I’ve been meaning to find out.”

That night, when he was laying in the dark, curled up among the sheets of the guest futon, he opened up his phone one more time. The screen lit up, and Hinata’s face greeted him, caught mid-laugh, his hair a halo of light around his face. Kageyama stared at it for a few long moments, memorizing each pixel as something grew in his chest. Then, he flicked it shut, shoved it under his pillow, and allowed himself to slip into unconsciousness.

* * *

 

When Tobio awoke the next morning, light was already streaming through the blinds of Hinata’s window. He sat up and craned his neck to see onto the bed across the room. The sheets were mussed (of course Hinata didn’t make his bed, Tobio scoffed, then remembered that he never made his bed at home either) and it was conspicuously empty. He glanced over to the clock: it was about 9:00. Hinata had probably been awake for a long time. Tobio didn’t usually sleep in past 7:30, but he guessed that much time spent with Hinata and Natsu had left him exhausted.

The quiet of the room felt lacking instead of peaceful, if he was being completely honest. The emptiness was unsettling.

He shoved himself up, smoothed his bedhead just slightly, and stumbled out the door into the hall. He was greeted with the brightness of morning and the mouthwatering scent of butter and syrup, as well as faint laughter.

Mrs. Hinata waved to him as he entered the kitchen, her other hand flipping pancakes onto an already towering stack by the stove. She was still in her pajamas, which made Tobio feel a little less embarrassed for oversleeping. Natsu was sitting in her usual spot, sipping what looked like orange juice. “‘Morning! These are up for grabs if you want, I made plenty!” She may as well have been a goddess. Tobio picked up a plate and began serving himself, only remembering after his second pancake to give an embarrassed “Thank you.” He seated himself next to Natsu.

She laughed. “No problem! Glad to see you slept well.”

“Where’s Hinata?” he asked after inhaling his first two pancakes.

Natsu waved her fork, now loaded with pancake, towards the door. “He’s out getting more milk. He said you’d want some.”

Tobio shovelled more pancakes into his mouth to hide the expression on his face.

Mrs. Hinata hummed lightly as they ate. Then, she said, “I’m glad you finally were able to come around, Tobio.” He didn’t know how to respond, so he gave an affirmative grunt through his food. She smiled and kept going. “I’ve been to plenty of matches, you know? But I’ve just seen you play, and heard stories about you from Shoyo. It’s different actually being able to see the two of you together.” Tobio wondered what stories Hinata could have possibly told his mom about him.

“He’s a great player. He didn’t use to be. He used to be a clumsy idiot,” he said, looking at his plate. Wait, he probably shouldn’t say that to Hinata’s mother. She just chuckled under her breath though. “I mean, he’s not anymore. He’s still clumsy, and sometimes he focuses on the wrong things, but... The team wouldn’t be the same without him. We wouldn’t have won all those games without him.”

‘That’s good to hear.” Her voice was tender, full of love. “The team has been so good for him. I’m glad he’s finally a part of something.” She paused for a moment to put the flour back up in the pantry, and the empty milk carton in the recycling. “He cares about you a lot.”

Tobio stared at her back, clutching his fork a little harder as his thoughts blurred. “Huh.”

She glanced back at him and laughed, a little nervously, like she wasn’t sure if Hinata wanted him to know, but she wanted to make sure he did. “He talks about you all the time. I mean, after a match he always talks about the most exciting thing first, but you’re always the next thing, no matter what.” Tobio was frozen, unspeaking, trying to process this new information as he refused to meet her eyes.

“I didn’t realize,” he said at last.

She snorted at that. “I think he wouldn’t want me telling you, but I just wanted to let you know. I’m glad he has you.” Sighing quietly, she loaded a few dishes into the sink. Then, she turned her head as if a thought has just occurred to her, eyes concerned. “Sorry if that made you uncomfortable...” She trailed off.

He blinked. “No... thank you.” He wasn’t sure what else to say. Opening his mouth slightly, he thought of ways to answer. I think about him a lot too. I don’t know where I would be without him.

I don’t know who I’d be if I hadn’t met him.

The door slammed open, frosty air blasting through the house. Hinata stood in the doorframe, clutching a grocery bag and breathing hard, like he had ran all the way here. His eyes were gleaming.

“It’s snowing!”

Tobio had never been so grateful to see him in his life. Hinata flew across the living room, dumped the cartons on the counter and practically dragged Tobio off of his chair and to the door. “Put this on!” A jacket hit him in the face.

“Come on Natsu! Let’s go build a snowman!”

“There’s not enough snow for that if it just started!” Tobio yelled.

“It snowed some last night too!”

“What about my shoes, idiot?!”

“Put them on faster!”

And so the rest of the day went.

* * *

 

That night, long after Tobio had changed out of his horrifyingly wet and cold mishmash outfit of pajamas and snow clothes and into a warm sweater, the three of them sat in the Hinatas’ living room, one of Mrs. Hinata’s piano cds playing quietly in the backgound. Hinata was kneeling on the floor by the TV, thumbing through the shelf of movies for something they all could watch. Apparently finding something, he let out a low, excited “ooooohh”. Tobio watched him quizzically.

Hinata flipped around, brandishing a DVD. “Have you seen this?” It was an old American cartoon, Christmas themed, per Natsu’s request. Tobio shook his head.

“How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” Hinata shuffled over on his knees to where Natsu was sitting and pointed at the cover. “Look, it’s Kageyama!” Natsu busted up, clutching her sides, and Tobio frowned. He didn’t even care about Christmas, how did they expect him to steal it?

Hinata popped the disk into the player, then jumped on the couch to sit next to Tobio.  “Natsu, come sit with us! And grab that blanket.” She did, and Hinata fumbled around with it, tucking it around the three of them like a bird fitting his nest. Tobio sat stock-still as Hinata eventually settled in, allowing his weight to fall all but completely onto Tobio’s side.

How was he supposed to enjoy the movie now, when he could feel Hinata’s every movement, every breath against his side?

“Here goes,” Hinata said, pressing play. His voice seemed a little higher than usual, but his fidgeting ceased as the opening music began. Soon, he was leaning entirely against Tobio, Natsu curled up in the space his bent knees provided. He could’ve sworn she looked almost smug.

Overall, the movie was nothing special. He found out within the first ten minutes that Hinata had put it in just to giggle with Natsu whenever the Grinch did anything even slightly Tobio-like (which, they all realized while watching it, actually happened fewer times than they had expected). And yet, though he growled and whopped Hinata’s head at all the right times, he couldn’t find it in himself to be angry. He was too busy noticing Hinata’s every inhale.

Sometime throughout the movie, Tobio found Hinata’s arms becoming slowly entwined with his under the blanket. He kept glancing at the other boy out of the corner of his eye, but Hinata was trained completely on the screen. Things became rather silent after that.

Despite the relative stress of the situation, Tobio soon found himself slipping in and out of consciousness. It wasn’t late, but the warmth was peaceful, and Hinata had just put on Japanese subtitles, not an actual dub, so it was easy to let the voices fade into the background. He let his head droop onto one of the couch’s pillows, and his breathing slowed.

It only felt like minutes he had been drifting, but when he awoke, things were darker, colder, and quieter. The tv was no longer flickering, and Mrs. Hinata’s music was playing again. He shifted around, noticing with a horribly predictable pang that Hinata was gone. Looking up, he realized the other boy hadn’t left the room. He had just scooted over to the other side of the couch, and was curled up now with his phone glowing in his hands. When he noticed Tobio looking at him, he smiled in his direction.

“Hey,” he said quietly, like he was trying to keep from waking up the rest of the house. Tobio noticed Natsu was gone.

“What time is it?” he asked.

“About eleven. You missed the Grinch’s heart growing three times its size,” Hinata said. Tobio pondered briefly if maybe that had been his point in showing the movie, but either way, he had slept through it. “Mom didn’t want us to wake you up though, she said you needed to rest.”

They were silent for a moment as Hinata texted someone and Tobio wrapped the blankets tighter around himself and stretched his legs out further across the couch. Not looking up, Hinata unbent his legs too. Suddenly, their knees were touching. And Hinata kept staring intently at the screen.

Tobio needed to break the silence. Plus, he did have something important to ask. “So for Christmas... we don’t do anything for it in my family, but... do I need to do something for your mom?” Hinata looked up, contemplative.

“Hmm..” He poked at his phone again, and it made a small noise. “She doesn’t like big things that much. Really, I guess just having all of us here together is good enough.” He shifted his legs again, which sent a jolt up Tobio’s spine. Then, he looked up to the pictures on the walls. “She likes memories.’”

“Memories...” Tobio repeated. He wasn’t usually the idea person, especially when it came to other people, but really, this one had come to him on a silver platter. “So you’ve been taking pictures this whole time, right?”

“What, like yesterday and today?”

“Yeah.”

Hinata nodded.

“Well, if we got a couple of them printed, she might... like that.” As soon as he’d said it, he realized how silly it sounded. But a smile was blooming on Hinata’s face.

“Oh, Kageyama, how thoughtful!”

Hinata received a pillow to the face.

“Really though!” Hinata placed the pillow between them. “I think she’d really like that.” And with the look in his eyes, Tobio almost smiled too.

* * *

 

The next night, Tobio was towelling off his hair, visions of swirling snow and marketplace lights dancing in his head. The shower had been the complete opposite of his day so far: warm, quiet, peaceful, unlike the frosty bustling of the main streets he and Hinata had travelled on their epic quest for a very specific Christmas present. Although he had loved that time out, and honestly, he craved more of it when it was over, the change was soothing, relaxing. The bathroom reminded him of the shower in his own home, which he wasn’t really missing, but was happy to feel in traces.

Except for the soap. The soap smelled like Hinata.

But he was not going to dwell on that. Instead, he retrieved some fresh pajamas from his bag and pulled them on. After checking himself in the mirror (which was becoming habit, he admitted grudgingly, when he was close to seeing Hinata), he headed for the living room.

Mrs. Hinata passed him in the hallway, and gave him a knowing pat on the shoulder. “Good luck out there, sport.” Tobio knitted his eyebrows and entered the room apprehensively.

In front of him lay a more typical scene than he had been expecting: Hinata and Natsu were both sprawled on the floor, a pile of cards separated haphazardly between them. They were bickering, apparently in the middle of a heated game. Tobio sat down next to Hinata.

He turned to look at the newcomer. “Hey! We were just playing War, do you wanna play?”

“I think we should pick a different game, I’m tired of War,” Natsu complained, drawing out the “i” in tired. Hinata whirled back around.

“What?! You’re just saying that because I’m winning!” She stuck out her tongue at Hinata, and he glanced back at Tobio in genuine disbelief. “You’re never going to get anywhere if you’re a sore loser! You have to take defeat to grow stronger!”

Natsu responded to his mini-sermon by throwing her cards on the floor.

“What card games are there?” Tobio asked, shifting so that he was now cross-legged. Hinata looked puzzled.

“What, have you never played one before?”

Suddenly, Tobio felt embarrassed. They were normal, weren’t they? People usually learned them in elementary school. Except, he hadn’t.

He hesitated, then said, “People never really... taught them to me.” No one would have wanted to, he didn’t add. Hinata caught it immediately, though, his face flashing between surprise and guilt. Before Tobio could feel the prick of shame (and annoyance, because he didn’t want Hinata pitying him), Hinata was smiling again.

“Wanna learn Egyptian Rat Slap?” Tobio raised his eyebrows. That was a ridiculous name for a card game.

“Is it actually Egyptian?” he asked as Hinata began dealing out the deck evenly between the three of them, leaving the jokers in.

“I have no idea.” Tobio reached to turn over the pile in front of him, and Hinata grabbed his wrist. “No, don’t look at them! It goes like this.” He laid down a card from his pile, face up. It was a six of hearts. “Basically, we go in a circle and lay down cards face up, one at a time. If two people lay down a card that’s the same number, or two cards of the same number with another card in between, you can slap the pile, and add it to your hand.” He slapped the pile for effect, and Tobio nodded.

“Same goes for jokers. If you lay down a face card, the next person has to lay down cards until they get a face card too. One card for a jack, two for a queen, and so on. If they don’t get a face card in that time, the person who put down the first face card keeps the pile!” He flashed a smile. “And, of course, if there’s a double in the cards the person’s putting down, anyone can slap it and get the pile.”

Tobio nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“It’s easy! And you’ll get it more once you start playing.”

Hinata was right. Within a few minutes of playing, Tobio had already matched Hinata’s speed in slapping down the cards. The piles were barely shifting in any direction, especially with Natsu as the game’s resident dark horse, her hand just small enough to slip under theirs when they were going in for the kill. Tobio wasn’t expecting so much of it to be left to luck (volleyball was almost all strength and skill, for him), but there was no way he would let that stop him from giving the other two hell.

Soon though, Natsu could barely keep up as the other two became increasingly intense, spewing nonsense at each other each time their hand touched the pile first. Tobio was getting heated, and there was no way he was going to let a card game be added to Hinata’s side of their figurative competition scoreboard, even if he had only learned it that night. Eventually, Natsu lost her last card and was forced to sit and watch, her expression bemused as the other two pounced on the cards with nothing to lose and everything to gain. Every once in a while, she was able to weasel her way in and snatch a small pile out from under them when a joker was played, but it was usually won back in a matter of minutes.

She moved to lay on her stomach, propping her head up, looking bored as the other two sought to destroy each other. And so it went, the night ticking on. The score would shift Hinata's way, then Tobio's, with an almost mathematical consistency. And Natsu's eyes just kept on going between the two of them.

A double eight was thrown down, and the two leapt on the pile, their hands smacking together. "It's mine!"" Hinata shouted, face red with exhilaration.

Tobio was equally incensed. "Look, my finger's under yours!"

Natsu stared at them lazily. "It's like you're holding hands."

Both of them froze, their eyes locking on each other's increasingly embarrassed faces. And yet, neither one would give up their claim on the card. Tobio's hand was growing clammy with nerves, though.

Natsu rolled over onto her back. "You two are huge babies. No wonder Shoyo has a huge crush on you." That was too much.

Three things happened after that. First, Hinata made a horrible squawking noise that Tobio was sure could be heard across the neighborhood. Second, he untangled his hand from Tobio's at lightning speed and threw himself a back a good three feet. Third, he scrambled to his feet, squeaked out something that sounded like "I-think-it's-time-for-you-to-go-to-bed-Natsu" and scooped her up in his arms. He shuffled at the speed of light down the hall as she kicked against his hold, yelling "It's true! You told me!" while he tried to drown her out with wordless screaming.

Tobio heard the slam of a door, then a suffocating quiet stretched over the house. His heart hammering against his chest, he strained to hear anything from down the hall. There were tones he could barely make out - Hinata's high-pitched desperation and Natsu's annoyed lilt. He brought his knees to his chest, looking for something to hold, to steady himself.

Hinata had told her. That's what she had said. The speculation of an eight year old wasn't much to go off of, but he had told her. She had heard it from Hinata's own mouth. Burying himself deeper in his knees, Tobio's thoughts raced through the possibilities. How had he said it? Had he smiled, or had he been afraid to tell her? Did he really say crush?

"I have a crush on Kageyama", "I like Kageyama". They all meant different things.

"I'm in love with Kageyama." He hit his own head, hard. This was ridiculous, he'd seen the look on Hinata's face. It was obvious he hadn't wanted Tobio to know. And now here he sat, the unwitting intruder who had just seen Hinata's secrets laid out in full.

He heard a door creak, and tensed. Muffled footsteps came slowly down the hallway, as if Hinata was trying to prolong the moment before he'd have to meet Tobio's eyes as long as humanly possible. Tobio sucked in a breath. A dreadful pause, and then, Hinata's worried face peeked out from around the corner. He seemed to be studying Tobio, trying to gauge his reaction. Tobio had no idea what he could possibly be reading from him, but remained silent anyway.

Apparently satisfied with what he saw (or at least enough to take a chance on), Hinata cautiously reentered the room. He looked awkward, his eyes flickering between hope, shame, and everything in between, but he took an unsteady breath and opened his mouth.

"I'm sorry."

Tobio was shocked. Rationally, he supposed he would have said that too if he was in Hinata's position, but it all felt so wrong. He pressed his fists into the carpet. "Don't say that!" Hinata winced, and Tobio instantly felt guilty. He lowered his voice and made himself unclench his shaking hands. "Don't say that. It wasn't your fault."

"It wasn't your fault either."

Tobio felt helpless, and oh god, Hinata's lip was starting to quiver. And yet, Hinata kept talking. "I didn't want you to find out like that... I wasn't sure if I wanted you to find out at all..." He stopped for a second and Tobio hoped that his face wasn't giving the other boy anything else to worry about. He knew his face got scarier under stress, and right now, he was beyond terrified.

He wasn't sure if Hinata was waiting for him to speak, but he knew he had to say something. "It's okay," he choked out. "It's okay." Hinata just stared at him, lips parted slightly, like he heard what Tobio was saying but was having trouble finding the meaning. Tobio sighed. "Please just sit down." Hinata's knees looked close to buckling beneath him.

Once he sat down, Hinata seemed to calm down a little, his breath evening and his eyes focusing normally again. They sat like this for a few long, uncomfortable moments, the silence heavy but almost unnoticeable with the speed at which their minds were scrambling for the right words.

Then, Hinata spoke. "I just wasn't sure how to tell you, or what to say. Or if it'd make you uncomfortable, or if you even like anyone at all, really-" Tobio looked at him, puzzled, and he explained, "-I mean, you never really talk about anyone, not even Shimizu, so I figured, either you don't like girls - but you don't really talk about boys either, so you could just be private about that stuff, and that's okay too - or you just don't like anyone, and that's fine, some people are like that, Kenma's like that-" He paused. "Maybe he didn't want me telling you that, I don't know, he doesn't really keep it a secret but he doesn't talk about it much either..."

He trailed off, his eyes wide and expectant like he thought Tobio maybe had a burst of inspiration after that monologue. Instead, Tobio just stared back. Hinata tried again. "Do you? Like anyone? I mean, you don't have to know, Kenma says it's hard to know especially if you don't really know know, but if you do know, do you? "

"What."

"Do you like anyone, I mean!" Oh. "And it doesn't have to be, well, you know, it doesn't have to be me." Tobio realized privately how ridiculous this question was. _But it is. It is you._ But his mouth went dry and his lungs contracted when he even thought of how to put that into words, so he concentrated first on the question at hand.

"I... I think I do." Everything seemed to stop. Hinata's gaze was fixed on him completely, and he knew now there was no going back from whatever happened next. "It's not something I think about, or thought about, like I've never... really... had it happen before, I guess, but... I get what Kozume means, it is... hard to know, but I think I do." That was probably the least confident delivery Tobio had made in his life, but with the way Hinata's eyes were glimmering, he didn't even think to kick himself for it.

"Is it anyone on the team?"

Tobio forced out a breath. If Hinata was still sitting in the same room as him after his secret came flying out of an eight-year-old's mouth, then Tobio was brave enough to skip the guessing game.

"It's you."

The words lingered in the air. There it was, spelled out plain between the two of them, undeniable. Hinata's hands twitched, like he wanted desperately to grasp something, or just to feel his fingers moving, remind him he was still awake. "Huh."

"Yeah."

Hinata exhaled as if the world was lifted from his shoulders. He bent over, his forehead in his hand. There was a smile on his face, and when Tobio saw it, something welled in his chest, warm and sure as the sun. "Oh my god."

Tobio nodded, even though Hinata couldn't see it. Hinata also couldn't see the traces of a smile forming on his lips. "I wasn't planning on telling you either."

Hinata shot up, his eyes brilliant with disbelief, joy, everything all at once and so many emotions that Tobio was so busy decoding, he had no time to react to the other boy throwing himself across the gap between them. They collided. Tobio fell back against the couch, and Hinata was shaking against him. A few seconds later, he realized he was laughing.

What an incredible sound.

Of course, Hinata's shoulder was digging into Tobio's throat. He grunted in a mixture of bewilderment and discomfort, and Hinata pulled quickly away, looking embarrassed. "Oh my god, sorry, sorry, I should've asked first."

"No, it's... it's okay."

And now the quiet of the room seemed alive, buzzing with their giddiness, the elation of laying it all out on the floor and finding so much more than either had thought was there. There was more to say, they could spend hours talking, but the words they had been so afraid of had come and gone. They could talk more in the morning, or any day after, really, because things were okay. They were okay.

As Tobio thought that, everything seemed to glow a little brighter. Hinata was still looking at him, a silly, uncensored grin growing on his face with every second. There was a sudden weight on his hand as Hinata covered it with his own, squeezed, then leaned forward. His head nestled into the crook of Tobio's shoulder. They rested against each other, too nervous to even think of kissing, but too proud of how far they'd come to just sit there looking at each other.

Eventually, Hinata sighed and whispered a muffled "What time is it?" Tobio craned his neck to find the clock.

"About midnight."

"Wow." He took a breath, warm against Tobio's neck. "Merry Christmas, Kageyama."

"Merry Christmas, Hinata."

"I'm glad we wrapped Mom's present earlier, I don't think I could do it now." He inhaled sharply and leaned back to stare at Tobio. "Oh god, she wasn't waiting for us to go to bed to put out the rest of the presents, was she?"

"How am I supposed to know? It's your house."

Hinata knocked his head against Tobio's collarbone and moaned out a long "Ohhhh noooo." Then he shoved himself off of Tobio, as if those few seconds he saved somehow made up for the hour his mom had no doubt spent waiting for them to finish whatever the hell they had been doing. "We should go to bed."

Tobio felt the chill of the room now with Hinata's  absence, but he pushed himself up and nodded. Together, they tiptoed down the hall, past Mrs. Hinata's room (as if that made any difference). and into the darkness of Hinata's room. Tobio sank into the guest futon, and listened to Hinata rustle around like a bird in his nest.

"Goodnight," came Hinata's whisper, as soon as he was settled.

"Goodnight."

* * *

 

Someone was shaking him. He cracked his eyes open, but everything was dark still, save for the faint glow streaming in from the hallway. "Kageyama!" It was Hinata's voice. He blinked, his eyes adjusting, and suddenly Hinata's breathless face appeared inches from his own. Tobio leapt backwards and succeeded in whacking his head against the wall next to the futon as the memories of what had happened last night came rushing back all at once.

Hinata winced, but didn't even try to hide his laugh a few seconds later, the bastard. Tobio felt a hand on his shoulder, still jostling him, but softer this time. "Wake up!"

"God, did you think I was still asleep after that?! Fucking - what time is it?" He sat up and rubbed his head, grimacing.

"Language, Kageyama! You're lucky Natsu's not here!"

"Natsu doesn't give a shit what I say." That earned him a whop on the head, right where he'd hit it, even though he doubted Hinata was aiming there. It hurt, but he was glad somehow - not for the pain in his head, but for the absence of the awkwardness he hadn't known he was dreading. Hinata was still Hinata, and that was worth more to him than anything that could possibly be under that tree down the hall.

"Get up!" And just like that, Hinata dragged him out of bed. He caught a glimpse of the digital clock by Hinata's bed on his way out - 6:33 AM. Tobio wasn't a late sleeper, but this seemed a little excessive. The presents would still be there an hour later, right?

It was only when he had been forcibly relocated to the living room that Tobio began to see what the fuss was all about. Everything was bathed in golden light, and everything seemed to sparkle, from the lovingly wrapped gifts under that small but sturdy tree to the frost-laced windows that refracted the early-morning sun that was just peeking over the horizon. Natsu was running laps around the tree, belting songs at the top of her lungs and making up the lyrics she didn’t know. As soon as she saw Tobio and Hinata, she screamed in delight and collided face-first with Tobio’s legs. He stumbled a good foot back, cursing all the way as she clung tighter, her singing growing louder as he attempted in vain to pry her off.

“Hinata! Help me!” he yelled, but the other boy just collapsed into a useless heap on the carpet, shaking with laughter. “God - damn - it -”

“Natsu!” Hinata’s mother appeared in the doorway, her eyes sleepy but no less warm. “Stop bothering Tobio, I have a favor to ask him.” Natsu released her death grip and fell to the floor as if by magic. Tobio gaped. Then, with a quick glance to Hinata, who just shrugged at him, he followed her into the hall.

As soon as they were out of sight of the other two, Mrs. Hinata turned to Tobio. She seemed to be holding her breath, her eyes searching his face and leaving him feeling uncomfortably exposed. At last, she exhaled, and said, “Natsu told me what happened last night, and I just wanted to make sure you both were okay.” Tobio was beginning to feel like being blindsided was the norm around here. He gulped, and nodded, before realizing with a start that she probably wanted him to say something.

“I... yeah, we... we got it worked out,” he mumbled. He tried to find a spot on the wall to look at instead, but all he found were pictures of Hinata’s brilliant smile, which did absolutely nothing to help his rising heart rate.

To his relief, Mrs. Hinata didn’t press the issue. She just nodded, her eyes crinkling with a small, tender smile. “I’m glad to hear it. Natsu told me this morning, and well.. apparently Shoyo gave her quite the talking-to last night, but I wanted to make sure she knew how it’s important to not butt into people’s private lives, things like that.” She gave Tobio a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

He realized after a second that she was probably just as unsure of what to say next as he was, so he cleared his throat and asked, “What was it you needed of me?”

She jumped a little. “Oh, nothing really, besides that!” She clasped her hands and gave a sheepish smile. “You can help carry in a few extra presents, if you want.”

When she emerged from the back room with two more presents, it was pretty clear she had only offered to give him something to do, as they were both only about the size of a shoebox. He took them anyway, and turned to reenter the fray, then paused. He looked back to meet Mrs. Hinata’s eyes.

“Thanks.” For everything, he supposed. For letting him stay, for supporting him and Hinata, whatever it was they were doing, for not asking questions he didn’t know how to answer, for every kind smile she had given him these past few days. He thought about putting those thoughts into words, or at least trying to, but she just laughed and ushered him back into the living room with a knowing “Any time.” He was grateful for that too.

Hinata was waiting for him on the floor when he got back, Natsu tugging at his shirt with enough force to almost send him toppling over. As soon as they made eye contact, Hinata wrenched his sleeves free so to point wildly at a new addition to the pile under the tree. There it was, the inconspicuous little gift the two of them had wrapped together as soon as they had gotten home yesterday, the whole process a mess of tape and ripping paper and lingering touches they had pretended, red-faced, to ignore. Things had changed so much since then.

“Let’s open them, let’s open them!” Natsu squealed as Tobio settled down next to Hinata. Hinata’s mom knelt down and passed a present to Natsu, then one to Hinata, and to Tobio’s surprise, one to him as well. He hadn’t expected her to really get him something, especially with only a few days’ notice, but there it sat in his hands. Significantly smaller than the rest, but a present nonetheless.

“Go on,” she said, and the three of them tore into the paper with reckless abandon. Tobio ripped away the last scrap to find something quite unexpected: a small box, with an even smaller paper inside. He frowned involuntarily; he supposed he wasn’t expecting much, but... He turned it over to read the scrawl on the other side. “IOU - One free ride to anywhere in the city, or any of the cities close by. Good for two, no expiration.” He let out a breath and looked up at her. She grinned back.

Hinata appeared over his shoulder and let out a dazzled “Ooooooh, Kageyama! We could go out tomorrow!”

Tobio turned around to growl at him, “We should save it for something more special!”

“What, like tomorrow’s not special enough? We have to think of something extra cool to do though!”

“Don’t tell me what to do with my present!”

But Hinata just laughed and glanced across the room, then back to his mom. “We still have to give her our present.” Tobio’s fingers stiffened against the carpet, his shoulders drawing up close to his ears as Hinata flopped to the side and stretched his arm, his fingers barely reaching far enough to snag the gift’s paper. Before Tobio could stop him, or give himself any more time to figure out what to say, he was already calling out, “Mom! Tobio got you something too! Though I helped, and I made it pretty, and I paid for a third of it, and I did the better half of the wrapping-” Tobio kicked him and he yelped loudly. Regaining his composure, he passed the gift along to Mrs. Hinata, who was looking at it like the sun was shining out of the paper.

“Tobio, that’s so sweet...” She ripped the paper so much more carefully than either Hinata or Tobio had. Then, she gasped, ever so quietly, and put her hand to her mouth, her eyes dancing in the flickering lights. “Oh my god!” The scrapbook sat in her lap, just a few days worth of images, but the way she looked at them, they seemed to hold something infinite. Setting the pictures down, she gathered up both boys in her arms, whispering things like, “You both are so sweet,” and “It’s wonderful” into their ears.

Even after she had let go, Tobio felt close to bursting. There was something magical, something so impossibly light and beautiful coursing through his veins, singing through the air. It was something he couldn’t describe, something he couldn’t grasp or try to make his own, and that was alright. It was enough, he discovered, to sit and watch and laugh along under his breath as Hinata and Natsu fought on the carpet, as Mrs. Hinata emerged from around the counter like a goddess with another batch of steaming cookies, as the sun rose and threw light all through the house until everything was a kaleidoscope of color.

And somewhere along the way, he felt Hinata’s fingers seeking out his own, tentatively, tentatively. And somewhere along the way, he decided there was nowhere else he’d rather be.


End file.
